The publisher of the Herald Sun is so proud of the PSO attacked in Melbourne a couple of nights ago that they sold ad space to cover their front-page photo of the local hero.
The front page without the ad would have had far more impact but, hey, the newspaper is a vehicle for advertising first and foremost so it makes sense that they put dollars before such an important local story.
This ad for David Jones harms their brand.
Further to my reports here recently about a magazine theft problem experienced by some newsagents, I have been contacted by a newsagent with a report that some sub agents only want them to supply weeklies, saying that is all they need. Checking in these shops sows a range of monthlies on display – being sourced outside the traditional sub agent relationship.
The question is where these magazines are coming from? If they are being sourced through a newsagent the margin would most likely be the same. It begs the speculation that the monthlies are stolen magazine stock. The sub agents when asked are vague in their answers.
This situation demonstrates that there is leakage somewhere in the supply of monthly magazines in Brisbane.
With newspapers more freely available at no cost today than five years ago and online journalism behind paywalls more today than five years ago the world has flipped, literally. It’s an interesting reversal and one I did not expect – the take up of content behind paywalls at least.
David Carr has a good article at The New York Times about the use of paywalls by media companies.
We have enlisted Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory hit TV show to draw attention to our men’s magazine area right at the rear of the store. This is another of the cardboard cutouts from the range we had success with during Halloween.
We chose Sheldon from the mix of life-size cardboard cut-outs in stock because of the popularity of the show among males and because no other store in or near our centre will have this life-size Sheldon cut out. It’s a perrfect gift for fans of the show and an ideal beacon to draw shoppers, particularly male shoppers, to the back of the store … once there they will see magazines we think they will like.
Playing with products that challenge the traditional newsagency model is important for us for our future.
For any newsagents interested, we sourced the cardboard cut-outs from: Alternative Distribution Pty Ltd in Victoria – 03 9334 5857. FYI, I don’t have a deal with them.
By the close of business yesterday we had sold more than 450 of these Snowman ornaments from Jacman. That is more than $2,700 in revenue from this one stand in three weeks. Talk about return on investment and return on floor space. Very nice.
We placed the stand on the lease line and used it as one of the christmas products to attract shoppers to our store from the mall out front. This means that the actually economic value of the stand is greater than the value of the products sold. We’re very happy.
Christmas 2012 is working a treat. The growth over Christmas 2011 will be well into the double digits in core product categories.
This is a story about another new magazine we have just received. Manuscript is what we’d call a thinking guys magazine in newspaper size. The display challenges aside, we had room in the part bof our magazine department where this title fits so we’re okay giving it a crack.
That we are handling this new allocation to us speaks to the challenges of managing space in newsagencies, especially where segments have defined space. It’s a reason why I want absolute control over the range I carry prior to allocation. I can do a better job that the guesses magazine distributors need to make by the very nature of their model.
We are promoting the latest issue of Dolly magazine at the entrance to our women’s magazine aisle – as well as the usual location – because of the free PJs as well as the opportunity to win One Direction tickets.
This Dolly package is a nice Christmas gift – that’s what we are hoping parents,grandparents and boyfriends will see in the display.
The latest issue of marie claire will sell despite display challenges newsagents face since not even one copy fits into magazine fixturing. The Alex Perry nail polish is the challenge.
I appreciate the challenge all publishers face with gifts. I’m sure their research shows that the gift needs to be placed with the title. This gift is too big to stick on a card inserted with the magazine.
I’m wondering about getting a floor display unit made into which I could place single issues of magazines like this issue of marie claire to professionally display the premium item off location but in a high traffic position. This would help better promote the title and fix a display challenge in a newsagency without any flat stack capability. I’d see the stand as being bale to make use of posters and other collateral.
I am not a fan of the ad on page 67 of today’s Australian Financial Review promoting newsagents. While I applaud the effort in promoting the channel, the ad is not ideal in my view.
My biggest concern is that this advertisement is promoting a brand that is not relevant to newsagents.
What is this N brand? It’s a nothing brand. There is no brand ownership and no brand discipline. Just look at how many versions of the N you can see in the community – at least three different N versions from what I can see.
There are many newsagencies that do not promote any of the versions of the N. Mine don’t as it is meaningless to consumers. Also, there is no value statement associated with the N.
On the ad itself, what have those behind the ad done to ensure that the businesses they are seeking to promote are businesses offering problem solving services, what have they done to ensure that all newsagents consider binders to be a core product. I know of plenty of newsagents would not have this view.
Unless you have structures of discipline around a brand you are advertising there is no point in promoting the brand. The consumer experience will be too varied and the resulting word of mouth will damage the brand.
If the channel is going to be serious about unified branding and marketing it needs to approach this is a professional and well thought-out way. Otherwise, advertising like today’s in the AFR is wasted.
A story from BankingDay, a banking industry publication, highlights the importance of security and helps underscore the value of the tyro broadband EFTPOS solution for newsagents.
Tyro has have created a technically better and more secure solution that protects the merchant (the newsagent) from the sort of compromises that out of date banking technology all too often can expose them (you) to. Tyro security is validated with an independently assessed PCI-PA DSS certification. this is important.
Here is the start of the BankingDay story:
Romanian scam forced thousands to fix systems 07 December 2012 7:00amThe alleged A$30 million Romanian credit card scam caused possibly the largest remediation effort ever undertaken within the Australian consumer payments system in the 18 months before last week’s arrest of the scammers.
Only 46 stores were confirmed to have been hacked in the scam last week, at a cost estimated at $30 million.
But industry sources have told Banking Day that thousands of merchants were required to have their systems “remediated” in the months after the scam came to light in June 2011, to fix their vulnerability. The remediations needed included changes to software, hardware and network configurations needed to prevent access to customer data.
Many of the stores affected were franchisees of Metcash’s IGA grocery chain, sources confirmed. A spate of mid-2011 media reports described unsolved fraud outbreaks centred on IGA stores from as far afield as the Melbourne suburb of Warrandyte to regional Victorian towns like Horsham and Castlemaine and NSW regional towns such as Orange and Junee.
The victims of the Warrandyte fraud wave, which was centred on the Warrandyte SUPA IGA store, reportedly included two police officers.
At publication time, it remains unclear whether sanctions will be applied to anyone in the chain of parties that allowed the system vulnerabilities to be created and to continue for several years.
The scam was enabled by poor store decisions about hardware, software and IT service providers that may have been influenced both by franchisors such as IGA and by the acquiring banks. A Mastercard spokesperson told Banking Day that the acquiring banks were responsible for ensuring that their merchants complied with the industry data security standard, PCI DSS.
Read the rest of the story here.
This is important because not all EFTPOS solutions are equal when it comes to security.
Newsagents wanting to know more about EFTPOS security and Tyro should speak with Chris Ball on 02 8907 1748. Tyro works with a range of newsagency software systems.
I was talking with a retailer yesterday who caught a shopper with $60 worth of stolen stock in their bag. The shopper knocked their bag as they were exiting the store and stolen items spilled onto the floor. The shopper was a long term ‘friend’ of the business.
While it could be considered intrusive by shoppers, right now, in the middle of Christmas, would be the time to check shopper bags on exit. Even doing this just at your busiest times could be well worth it.
We are promoting the latest smith journal with placement in several locations in-store including this placement in with what we’d call intelligent male magazines.
smith journal is an important title for us, appealing to a category of male shopper not well served by magazines in the newsagency channel today. Our sales are generated evenly through our various placements: as in the photo, with men’s magazines (GQ etc) and with frankie. We tend to pull back on the co-location through the on-sale.
We have sold 45 of these large Beanie Balls so far as part of our Christmas promotion. This is considerably more than we budgeted for this item for the season – and we have plenty of shopping time to go.
What is particularly valuable for for us is the traffic these balls are generating. Most sales are to shoppers attracted to us by our display of the balls. The success of the balls is not reliant on traffic generated for newspapers or magazines.
We choose products based on the traffic they will generate. This is a very local opportunity as different newsagencies generate traffic based on different products.
I am looking to hire a current or former newsagent for a project. Location not as important as the right person. If you have an interest, please email me at mark@towersystems.com.au.
Further to my November 16 post, bulk magazine thefts continue to be reported in Melbourne. While newsagents are responding by taking extra measures, no one will rest until police resolve these expensive and disruptive crimes.
Outside of the financial and operational costs, there is the concern for the safety of those in the victim businesses.
We received ten copies of the launch issue of Australian Home Technology in one of my newsagencies. Beyond receiving too many copies – given our sales of this type of title – we do not have a spare pocket in this segment. What do the publisher and distributor expect us to do? Either this title gets early returned or another title is returned early.
Publishers who complain about newsagent early returns need to look at their engagement in causing the problem through their title launches and product allocations.
On the launch of Australian Home Technology – it is frustrating that this has launched so close to Christmas. Newsagents will be too busy to support the title, to make space for it and to let shoppers know about it. the other question I have is one of relevance. Do we need the title?
Here’s what I want from magazine distributors:
Since I am to be responsible for my level of indebtedness it’s only fair. Not having access to this will see more newsagents cut magazine space or exit the category altogether.
I urge newsagents to watch the video from the Reserve Bank on spotting counterfeit bank notes. With reports of fake notes surfacing last week this is timely. Be sure to download the advice sheet too.
I’ve been caught in one of my businesses. The key is making sure all team members are aware.
I like the digital bracelet watch being given away with the current issue of Good Health magazine from ACP. It helps make this title more valuable as a Christmas gift.
The only challenge is damage to the card holding the watch in some copies. In one of my newsagencies two thirds of the cards were damaged making the total product less appealing as a gift.
Pacific Magazines is to launch Bike magazine next month, a title aimed at dedicated bike riders – a commercially valuable community. Here is some background from the press release:
Editor Bruce Ritchie, former long-time editor of Men’s Health, commented: “Bike is a magazine that will help every reader become the best rider they can be.
“From advice on how to train better and eat smarter, to lessons from the sport’s history and culture, tips from the pros, authoritative reviews on the best new bikes and gear, to simply celebrating the sheer thrill and fun of cycling, Bike is a must-read for anyone who wants to get faster, ride stronger… and have a blast on the road.”
Through my software company I work with bike retailers and know the value of this marketplace and the passion of those engaged as riders and retailers. I’m pleased to read of the launch of Bike and feel that it could do well for the newsagency channel.
GNS has today announced details of a share offer designed to raise up to six million dollars in working capital. The funds will enable the business to repay debt, invest in operations and invest in expansion.
I was surprised to read in the prospectus that of GNS’ 5,000 customers, only 505 are shareholders.
The raising is a positive move for GNS and the newsagency channel more broadly. It is an opportunity for newsagents to invest in a key part of their own national infrastructure.
Plenty of NSW / ACT newsagents have complained about downtime yesterday due to an upgrade to IT infrastructure taking much longer than expected. As one newsagent noted: communication was poor as newsagents had to chase updates rather than NSW Lotteries keeping them informed.
I know of several newsagents who send birthday and Christmas cards to customers. If you do, please share your experience here: why you do it and how your customers respond.
A range of people and organisations offer to help newsagents with lease negotiation. I urge newsagents to do their research before signing on with any party making such an offer.
Ask for recent references and do your own research.
One newsagent recently found that the party they were paying to represent them was negotiating for another party to take their lease and business.
It is one thing to face a competition head on and another entirely when your own ‘family’ is stabbing you in the back.
Bottom line: when it comes to lease help, do due diligence and ensure that claims being made are truthful.
I asked the author of the Submissive to remind her thousands of Twitter followers that hew book is available from newsagents. She obliged! Nice. An excellent example of how we as a retail channel can engage with authors and brands through Twitter. All we had to do was ask.
We have one copy of the latest issue of frankie left. Our sales of this magazine continue to grow.
frankie extends baskets of existing shoppers and it attracts valuable new shoppers. In each of my newsagencies the allocation is good – a little low if anything but that’s the nature of shopping centre newsagency magazine sales.
I know of several newsagents who have early returned frankie leaving less stock on the shelves than their recent average sales. This is definitely not a magazine you should treat this way as you;re likely to lose the customer to another retailer.